Ruben Amorim’s decision to sacrifice Alejandro Garnacho in the first half of Wednesday’s 3-2 win against Ipswich Town was the Manchester United winger’s final straw, claims Jamie O’Hara. United edged out fellow Premier League strugglers Ipswich at Old Trafford, having played more than a half with 10 men.
Referee Darren England sent Patrick Dorgu off in the 43rd minute for his high challenge on Omari Hutchinson after a VAR recommendation.
Amorim immediately acted by introducing Noussair Mazraoui for Garnacho, who went straight down the tunnel rather than sitting in the dugout with United’s other substitutes.
The 20-year-old further raised eyebrows after full-time by posting a cryptic captionless image of him in the rainy conditions on his Instagram story.
Garnacho faced criticism for opting against praising his team-mates for their hard-fought victory in trying circumstances on a cold, wet night in M16.
He returned to Instagram on Thursday afternoon to post a second story of the team celebrating, writing: “Important three points! Team [muscle emoji]”
But O’Hara believes Amorim’s decision to withdraw Garnacho rather than his attacking counterparts hasn’t gone down well with the United No. 17.
“It looks as if Alejandro Garnarcho has lost his patience with Ruben Amorim already,” O’Hara told Grosvenor Sport.
“It looked like being substituted in the first half was Garnarcho’s final straw, as if he was saying to himself, ‘I can’t play for this manager anymore’.
“We know Amorim dropped him and Marcus Rashford from the squad a few weeks ago, but it seemed like they had repaired their relationship – until last night!
“I can’t see Garnacho starting the next game, that’s for sure. I’m a fan of Amorim and how he’s conducted himself when it’s come to man-management, but Garnacho won’t like this one bit.”
United host Fulham in the FA Cup fifth round on Sunday, where Amorim will likely call on Garnacho again due to his limited first-team options due to injury and suspension.
Dorgu will be absent from the treacherous tie at the start of his three-game ban, which will also force him out of Premier League games against Arsenal and Leicester City.
Garnacho is one of three senior forwards at Amorim’s disposal after Amad’s season-ending injury and Jadon Sancho, Marcus Rashford and Antony’s loan exits.
The Argentine is enduring one of his dryest spells in front of goal since breaking into the first team in 2022, failing to score in 20 games.
He was strongly linked with an exit in the winter transfer window amid interest from Chelsea and Napoli and is bound to be the subject of further speculation this summer.
